THE HEART

Chapter Six : Second Chance

Second Chance the Rebirth

When Orihime was with Ulquiorra they had a connection.

     Some time after she was saved by Ichigo and the others, she thought she would be happy, and she felt glad, but she had realized about this emptiness inside her. A place in her heart created and occupied by Ulquiorra, and which no one else could fill. She missed him ever since they returned…

     When Ulquiorra was trapped inside Grimmjow's negacion, he could still be able to perceive Grimmjow's reaitsu had disappeared, and since then knew he had been defeated by Kurosaki Ichigo. When he set himself free to take charge in Las Noches after the top 3 Espada along with Aizen, Ichimaru and Tousen departed, the first thing he saw was Orihime…

    Due to the memorable speech he gave her about the soul, one wouldn't have thought he felt any mercy towards her. How wrong such assumption happens to be. While he was trapped inside the darkness Grimmjow put him in, she was all that occupied his thoughts.

     He couldn't understand why anyone would go so far to save that woman. She wasn't a particularly important person in her world. The only thing that made her special was her power to reject reality; however, his enemies had made it clear they didn't wish to save her for that sole reason but for friendship; a concept he couldn't grasp as anything other than an unnecessary relationship among humans who were weak and couldn't stand up for themselves. Apparently, there was more to it, but what? What was there about it that made it so important? If it's so important, then how could he be missing it?..

But none of that mattered. He did his best to stick to his duty and his duty only.

     Before he knew it, a fierce battle exploded in Las Noches. He had broken the rule of not using his resurreccion form and shattered his recollected demeanor and still he lost the fight.

     How strange. He was disintegrating particle by particle; this was his end; and he still thought of that woman.

-Do you fear me? – He asked her for the second time.

And for the second time, she answered negatively.

Why did he hope for her answer to change? Why was it so important anyways? He didn't understand how but he knew then that that woman had made a strong impression on him. She had seen him in forms that would've made most tremble and fall to the ground, but she still didn't fear him?

     Just what is there about that woman named Orihime Inoue.He thought with his last breath inside his soul.I somehow want to understand. It is ridiculous. I have no future anymore but I still want to understand… In the end, I am having an illogical desire; much like a human would. Is it simply that no matter how much one tries to detach from such humane traits, they just cannot be detached from a soul that was once human? Is the human essence that persistent? Have I lost my opportunity to understand that woman? Why do I wish to understand her so badly? She should just be trash to me, but something about her tells me there's more to her yet. What makes Inoue Orihime thus worthy of so much analysis? In what way would it benefit me in the least to understand her; a mere human? Despite this much inner arguing, I still want to know more of her.

      He didn't know what to expect after vanishing. In theory, his soul would be purified and sent to Soul Society but for some reason he always felt that his case would be different; an illogical thought he'd always shrug off whenever it came to his mind.

As illogical as it seemed, his foreboding was true in the end.

     All of a sudden, he wasn't in Las Noches and neither Ichigo Kurosaki nor Orihime Inoue were anywhere in sight. There was absolutely nothing surrounding him, just dark nothingness. Not a sound could be heard.